'Hybrid' plan to replace viaduct offered

New option: Surface, tunnels, maybe tolls

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, December 8, 2008

A combination of surface streets and tunnels, possibly with tolls, could be the best way to replace Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct, business and downtown representatives said Monday.

The new option also raises its own set of questions.

Until now city, county and state officials have listed tunnels and so-called "surface and transit" replacements separately, though always saying they'd consider some combination in recommending how to replace the 1953-vintage viaduct.

Monday was the first publicly known move to attempt a combination of elements from anyone on the committee set up for feedback to government officials and not for decision making.

Tayloe Washburn, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce representative on the committee, circulated a description calling the surface-tunnel idea a "grand compromise" that could provide new open space on the waterfront and maintain traffic capacity, and suggesting it be studied further.

Washburn and supporters asked the state, Seattle and King County to examine a combined solution in the coming 10 days while they consider two or three solutions to recommend to Gov. Chris Gregoire, Mayor Greg Nickels and County Executive Ron Sims, who have agreed to pick the final replacement -- likely by the end of the month.

At a viaduct stakeholders committee session Monday, some questioned tunnel proposals as too expensive, and others said dispersing traffic onto surface streets would make it harder for downtown workers to get to their jobs and that officials have many questions to answer before arriving at a recommended solution.

"We're interested in it," Bob Donegan, a waterfront business representative on the committee, said of the "surface-subsurface" concept.

As described, the proposal didn't give a cost estimate but in one swoop suggested combining some of the least costly options with some of the costliest.

The cost of the "surface-transit" options, exclusive of annual operating expenses and not considering economic impacts, range from $800 million to $900 million. The cost of three tunnels, also exclusive of operating outlays, range from $1.9 billion for a highway partly in a lidded trench to $3.5 billion for a bored tunnel stretching from the sports stadium under downtown to Aurora Avenue.

Washburn's proposal didn't specify which of the three "surface" options or which tunnel should be combined. It did suggest adding as much new bus service as possible to help move people to and through downtown without using more cars.

Washburn said the "hybrid" replacement should include adding lanes to Interstate 5 to improve its flow, as proposed separately in the "surface" proposals. He said he'd discussed the idea with labor representatives and the Downtown Seattle Association.

Other committee members said the chamber's "hybrid" idea needs further examination. Belltown member John Pehrson said the "surface" options would create needed open space for his neighborhood and "we would view this as a great opportunity." But he said he didn't expect the stakeholder group to make the decision.

West Seattle representative Vlad Oustimovich's reaction was mixed. He supports the bored tunnel idea but said the cost estimate seemed "grossly overstated" and surface options would complicate trips from West Seattle to downtown.

Commute-time estimates for the various options show "we'll get to the stadiums a lot faster. It'll be a lot harder to get to jobs. That's not the basis for good transportation modeling," he said.

Rob Sexton, the Downtown Seattle Association representative on the committee, said that a "surface" option should be among the final three the agencies consider.

He expressed doubts that one elevated highway design, including a park above and retail and office space below a four-lane highway, would work unless a detail study showed otherwise. Lacking that study, it should be dropped, he said.

But that option is heavily favored by powerful state House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, who has been talking it up with any group who'll listen.

Gene Hoglund, a proponent of a new elevated highway, echoed Oustimovich's concerns about the cost of tunnels and said the elevated routes will maintain direct connections from state Route 99 to Magnolia and Ballard and large numbers of maritime businesses.

"What about the five months a year when the stadiums are at full blast and the cruise ships are unloading?" Hoglund asked. "You haven't addressed that."